China – The Magical Truth

Having spent 5 days in the “hustle” and “bustle” of China, this blog post will give you a real-life anecdotal evidence of what china is all about…

China is a fascinating place and a place where anything is possible.

Day 1 – Zhejiang

China is a magical place…but I soon start to wonder, where are all the people?

We arrive early morning in Shanghai and we are greeted by our friendly driver, who takes us two hours north to a city called Zhejiang.

As we drive up north, we realise there is no-one on the road…

A few trucks… Some haze…

Where are the 1.3 billion people?

Is it a myth?

Maybe China actually only has 700 Million people and that is why GDP is slowing???

We decide to spend the night at the Crowne Hotel. It is modern, clean and vibrant (although still nothing like the Crown Casino in Melbourne). This is China…

We have a quick lunch and then head to a factory that produces bio-degradable plates, cups, forks toys and plastic bags out of corn starch…..

I was simply amazed by the cleanliness of the factory and how “efficient” the operations were…

This factory had an “edge” about it. If all the factories in China were like this, my perception of China has already completely changed…

A traditional yum-cha dinner, was followed by lots of “gulps” of the Chinese local house wine… The Chinese don’t “sip” on wine… they “gulp” it in one force!

No wonder Chinese consumption of wine is going through the roof…

And if you don’t “shot” the glass with your new found friend, let’s just say, that the business relationship is not going any further …..

Day 2 – Jinan & The Bullet Train

An early wake-up call and a three, 300km/hour train ride to Jinan, took us to our first conference…

1,000km in three hours… not bad!

Why don’t they build this for the Melbourne to Sydney route?

That would help with pollution and traffic congestion….

Tim Flahvin (Partner from Thomas Geer) and Graham Webb (Partner from Hall Chadwick), joined me with Susan Chi (Founder of Jiaren Invest in Sydney) to talk about the investment landscape in Australia, the listing requirements on the ASX and a little about our special opportunities fund, that we are currently in the process of setting up.

What a great experience…

More “gulps” of Chinese wine, more yum-cha followed by some Karoke following the conference… …

Day 3 – Tianjin

Ghost Cities Everywhere…

Off we made our way to Tianjin….

As we head north, the weather quickly got much cooler….

Another quick ride on the “bullet” train definitely an eye opener…

Huge Amounts of Construction… Lots of Cranes… High Towers…

Ghost Cities everywhere… no-one is living there…

Once again, where are all the people?

Is anyone home?

A taxi ride that took the wrong turn and got us lost…

We arrive in our hotel, en route for the next conference, where over 150 people await…

Having eaten “the worst hamburger of all time”, I head to reception with the rest of the crew and ask for an iron- board…

“We don’t have an iron-board” exclaimed the receptionist…

“You don’t have an iron-board, in the entire hotel?”, I remarked?

“Yes, no iron-board”

This was a 4 star hotel in a major city in China… Which hotel doesn’t have an iron-board?

I have a long “sigh” and remember that everything is still about 10 years behind Australia… not worth getting upset at little things, right? Much better to have a laugh!

Day 4 – Beijing

There is Blue Sky…

Who says that there is no blue-sky in china?

Sure, there is smog … yes, there is some pollution…

But there is definitely blue sky and here is evidence…

After a few stops at the local convenience store to find some “random” Chinese delicacies, we arrive at our hotel, getting ready for our final conference…

The usual “yum-cha” dinner, is now followed by a number of the locals taking us to a few of the Beijing bars…

Now…

Who says that there is no money in China?

Fast cars, a bustling city life, young people out spending money and drinking expensive champagne…

There is definitely wealth in China…

Yes, things are slowing down…

Yes, GDP is closer to 6%, rather than 6.9% as factories move offshore, mainly as the labour costs in China are rising….

However, Generation Y in China is the backbone of the country and are confident that the new government’s policies will boost growth, infrastructure and the way of life…